[Kyrit]

Hearing that it did actually exist filled him with excitement once more, as Friend roughly set the orange down on the table, gaze coming back to meet hers once more. “It sounds perfect for traveling! You’d always have a snack when you needed it most!”

Vadra was taken aback by his words, producing another few seconds of silence between them before a chuckle escaped her lips, which evolved into laughter that roared through the entire room, echoing down the entrance. This went on for what felt like an eternity to the bewildered Tabaxi but only seconds to the dragon.

[Kyrit]

Could blush be seen through fur, Friend’s face would have been a vibrant red. No, probably closer to his entire body would have been red with just how embarrassed the laughter had made him feel. It had only made him feel even more stupid for coming out here, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything until after she had finished her outburst. Eventually though, she took a few gasping breaths, remnants of her laughter dying out a bit more with each one.

[Kyrit]

“I am sorry. That was incredibly rude of me, and I do apologize. I just…”  She wiped away tears that had welled up in the corner of her eyes, chuckling a few more times before taking three deep breaths and righting herself. “Certainly wasn’t expecting that sort of response. Then again, I’ve never spoken to anyone that did want it, only the man that asked that it never leave the desert.”

Part of the problem was she fully believed he wanted it for exactly what he’d said. The pure enthusiasm with which he’d given his answer, the excited shine in his eyes. For a moment she could easily forget all the atrocities of the world in the moment she had been laughing. Even now she could not help but smile as she rested an elbow on the table, leaning forward to rest her cheek gently in her hand.

[Kyrit]

“Well,” she started out once again, leaving no time for him to interject with anything of his own. “You would be right in guessing that I am the ‘monster’ that is defending the cage. I believe it was….” She seemed to have to think for some time on this, though she didn’t leave the silence hanging for too long, “Perhaps one or two human lifetimes, so I’ll assume in the range of a century and a half or so ago. A nobleman from the nearest city brought it to me, begging that I keep it locked away. Apparently it had been gifted to his daughter - a gift he would come to learn was not sent with the best of intentions.”

[Kyrit]

The smile faded as she began to tell the story, and it seemed as if she was looking through him now rather than at him. “The maiden was quite happy to receive the cage, so I was told. She rushed her father to buy her the finest parrot he could find. A bird that could learn the songs of the bards and sing to her, keep her from being lonely. Each time she offered for the bird to leave the cage though, leaving the door wide open, it didn’t move. She would try to entice it out with food, the likes of which it would never eat. It hadn’t the time to learn songs, quickly leaving the maiden burdened with grief over the bird she had failed to take care of. It wasn’t her fault, but she didn’t know.”

[Kyrit]

Friend could pick up on a sadness in her voice, as if this was not a story she liked to retell, one that she’d prefer be forgotten with the cursed cage. He listened intently though, taking in each and every word, painting the story of the maiden of the story in his head. He could certainly see how her father would choose to do anything he could to get rid of it. The story wasn’t over though as she continued on.

[Kyrit]

“Without telling her, her father sought to buy her a new bird just a few days later. By the time he returned though, sitting within the cage that had been sitting on the window sill was a small sparrow. The cage’s door stood open, the bird did not move. He tried to shoo it away but eventually had to reach in and remove the bird himself. A smarter man would have realized by this point that something was wrong, but a smart man many noblemen are not. With the sparrow evicted, he presented his daughter with her new bird and guaranteed her it was in the best of health and would open up to her unlike the last.”

“.... But it didn’t?” Friend interjected, his ears hanging low against his head.

[Kyrit]

“Correct, it did not. Nor did the next. By the time the third bird passed, the maiden was quite depressed, believing herself to be cursed. Again, it was not her fault. Something her father should have known. Instead, he tasked a maid with tending to the next bird. This did not work either. This cycle continued until his daughter became so depressed that she became much like the birds she had lost - she did not leave her room, getting her to eat was a struggle. I do not know what became of the girl, but the father eventually sought me out after his wife refused to keep the birdcage in their house any longer. A smarter woman would have demanded he get rid of it sooner, but I suppose at least one of them was smart enough to decide it had to be the cage. And thus the nobleman sought me out. After all, dragons love fanciful magic items, do they not?”

[Kyrit]

There was something Friend found wrong about that last sentence, something that hadn’t lined up with something she’d said earlier. One of his ears perked back up slightly, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Didn’t you say it wasn’t in your lair though?”

“Correct yet again. I cannot stand it.”

Now he could understand why she didn’t seem to be looking directly at him. He was right, she must not have liked telling the story to anyone. Had Friend known, he wouldn’t have pressed her to tell him the story. After all, she didn’t press him for the story about why he was afraid of water, at least not yet. It was too late now though, and she would not stop until she reached the end.

[Kyrit]

“I kept it here for a short time to study it and learn the magic it worked with, but even down in my lair bird seemed to find their way inside, drawn to it by some force. I could set them free, but nothing prevented them from returning. Nothing prevented new ones from finding their way in. They are not intelligent, but I do not take pleasure in watching the suffering of another living being. You may not understand them, but they do speak. Not in the way you or I do, but they speak. Each chirp or screech has meaning behind it, and if you have been around long enough you can learn the meaning to each. A promise was a promise though, and I had promised to make sure no one else suffered by it. I left the cage in the desert. If I could not easily prevent its magics, the least I could do was keep anyone from finding it… and not have to look at it myself.”

[Kyrit]

“Do you know where it is still?” The story was quite sad, but it hadn’t managed to deter his interest in it. After all, in the end it was still no different than if he was hunting them, at least for the purpose he wanted the cage.

“Yes, I know the exact location still. I said I’m the ‘monster’ guarding it, but in a sense I’m also not. The actual ‘monster’ is just an illusion, enough to fool most in to believing an earth elemental patrols the area. Perhaps I will tell you where it is, though not until I have heard more about you. Having to tell that story has left a sour taste in my mouth, which only a better conversation could improve. This time give me your entire story, not just from when you left the last town you were in.”

A story for a story was only fair. Eventually, one story turned in to another, which turned in to another as the two sat together for hours enthralled in conversation, with only brief pauses in their chatter for either to eat or take a drink.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]